Forage crop crusher



April 8, 1953 s. D. RUSSELL 2,829,587

FORAGE CROP CRUSI-IER Filed Aug. 3, 1955 IN VEN TOR. STANLEY D. RUSSELL I MW ATTORNEYS United States Patent FORAGE CROP CRUSHER Stanley D. Russell, Racine, Wis., assignor to]. I. Case Company, Racine, Wis, a corporation of Wisconsin Application August 3, 1953, Serial No. 372,077

3 Claims. Cl. IMF-171) This invention relates to a forage crop crusher, and the present application constitutes a continuation-in-part of application Serial No. 125,101, filed by the present applicant on November 2, 1949, now Patent No. 2,664,684.

In the crushing of forage crops such as hay it has been the practice heretofore to pass the hay through a crushing zone between a pair of hard surfaced metal rolls which are usually of a substantial length to receive a substantial width of thinly matted material. Where the mat of hay was of uneven thickness or where stones or sand were lodged in the mat it was generally necessary to float the rolls relative to each other for emergency separation under pressures providing the requisite crushing effect.

Nevertheless, any uneven thickness or bunching of the mat tended to separate the rolls at the region of maximum thickness thereby relieving the pressure upon thinner adjacent areas of the mat so that much of the material did not get crushed satisfactorily. Also any separation of the rolls by stones or other foreign matter likewise relieved the crushing pressures and interrupted the crushing operations until the rolls again came together to squeeze the material therebetween.

The necessity for utilizing a thin mat of crop material to effectively accomplish crushing resulted in maintaining a length for the crushing zone or rolls that tended to cause deflection in the rolls.

The present invention is based upon the concept that a roll made up of individual and independently floating roll sections can be provided to overcome many of the difficulties encountered.

According to the invention one of the crusher rolls is made up of separately mounted roll sections which are independently floated relative to the cooperating crusher roll whereby different regions of the mat of hay or other material pass through the crushing zone defined by the respective roll sections and: (1) thicker portions of the mat which may pass any one of the roll sections will float only the corresponding roll section without relieving the pressure of the adjacent roll sections upon thinner portions of the mat; (2) stones passing through the crushing zone will temporarily separate only the corresponding roll section from the other roll; and (3) any tendency of the opposite crusher roll surface to deflect will be compensated by the sectional roll construction and individual biasing of the several roll sections toward the opposite roll to maintain a substantially equal crushing pressure upon the different regions of the mat passing through the crushing zone.

In a more specific aspect of the invention the individual roll sections are each power driven and floated upon corresponding pivotal arms mounted upon a common drive shaft with means biasing the several arms in a direction to provide the necessary crushing pressure for the rolls.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus embodying the invention;

2,829,587 Patented Apr. 8, 1958 Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view of the crushing rolls of the apparatus with the roll shafts sectioned;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the crushing zone of Figs. 1 and 2; and i Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the employment of separate conveyor feed means.

In carrying out the invention as illustrated in the drawings, the crushing rolls 1 and 2 are disposed parallel to one another with roll 2 above roll 1.

The lower crushing roll 1 is a continuous cylinder throughout its length and is rotatably mounted with its shaft 3 in suitable end hearings in the frame 4.

The roll 2 is sectional and the several roll sections 5 are mounted in pairs upon separate stub axles 6 rotatably supported in suitable bearings formed by openings in corresponding pivotal arms 7.

A common drive shaft 8 pivotally supports the arms 7 by suitable bearings 22 and is mounted in suitable end hearings in frame 4. j

The shaft 8 is rotatably driven by shaft 9 through suitable meshing gears 23 and 24 respectively. A sprocket gear 25 is disposed on shaft 9 adjacent each end thereof and drives a chain 26 which is in engagement with a sprocket 11 secured on shaft 3.

The pairs of roll sections 5 of roll 2 are driven by means of individual chains 10 between sprockets 27 on the corresponding stub axles 6 and corresponding sprockets 28 on shaft 8.

The roll 1 is driven by means of a chain 12 connected to a suitable source of power, not shown.

The arms 7 are biased downwardly by means of springs 13 disposed between the corresponding arms and a cross member 14 on frame 4, so that the roll sections 5 are constantly biased toward roll l. Rotation of shaft 8 tends to rotate the arms 7 to augment the action of the springs 13.

The roll sections 5 are cylindrical and are disposed in general alinement and closely spaced apart end to end. Each pair of roll sections 5 is capable of floating upwardly against its spring 13 and the rotation of its arm 7 independently of the adjacent pairs of roll sections 5.

The hay or other crop material to be crushed is fed to the crushing rolls by means of an endless belt conveyor 15.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3, the belt 15 passes over lower crushing roll 1 and carries the material directly through the crushing zone between rolls 1 and 2.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 4, the belt 15 is carried by rolls entirely separate from the crushing rolls whereby the discharge end of the belt passes over a drive roll 16 which is driven together with roll 1 by means of chain 17 and suitable sprockets.

A feed control belt 18 disposed above belt 15 in Fig. 4 between rolls 19 and 20 serves to mat the material as it approaches the crushing rolls. For this purpose roli 20 is disposed close to and above roll 16 while roll 19 is spaced substantially above the level of roll 16 so that belt 18 in its lower course moves at an angle downwardly toward the discharge end of belt 15.

In Fig. 4 the roll 2 has a plurality of longitudinal rubbars 21 spaced circumferentially thereon and which serve to crush the crop material against the smooth cylindrical surface of the lower roll 1.

Various modes of carrying out the invention may be employed within the scope of the accompanying claims which particularly point out and distinctly set forth the subject matter regarded as the invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for crushing forage crops, comprising a pair of opposing crusher rolls disposed to cooperate in receiving a continuously moving thin mat of crop material therebetween and in squeezing and crushing the same, one of said rolls being constructed of a plurality of independent roll sections mounted in general axial alignment, said roll sections being mounted upon pivotal arms carried by a common drive shaft, individual drive connections between said common drive shaft and the corresponding roll sections, and means acting separately upon the corresponding arms to bias each roll section toward the opposite roll to maintain the necessary crushing pressures and provide for floating of any of said roll sections independently of each other without relieving the crushing pressures of adjacent roll sections.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the direction of rotation of said common drive shaft urges said pivotal arms to supplement the action of said biasing means.

3. Apparatus for crushing forage crops, comprising a pair of parallel upper and lower crusher rolls disposed to cooperate in receiving a continuously moving thin mat of crop material therebetween and in crushing the same, the upper of said rolls being constructed of a plurality of independent sections mounted in general axial alignment, the lower of said rolls being supported in fixed bearings and being driven, a pivotal arm carrying each of said roll sections and extending in a direction generally normal to a plane containing the axes of the aligned roll sections and said lower roll to provide for floating of each of the roll sections toward and away from said lower roll independently of the other roll sections, and separate means biasing each of said pivotal arms to effect a sub stantially constant pressure on each said roll section toward said lower roll, said means being yieldaole to provide for floating of any of the roll sections independently of any other roll section Without relieving the crushing pressures of adjacent roll sections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNETED STATES PATENTS 38,682 Eenkins May 26, 1863 52,203 Redlein Ian. 23, 1866 183,114 Oct. 10, 1876 644,492 Besore Feb. 27, 1900 887,280 Smith May 12, 1908 1,419,895 ONeill et al. June 13, 1922 1,666,796 Shuler Apr. 7, 1928 2,005,758 Shiley June 25, 1935 2,458,345 Cass Ian. 4, 1949 

